How Accountants Use CSV for Reconciliation (Practical Workflow)

Reconciliation is less about "getting data into a spreadsheet" and more about making sure the data behaves predictably when matched against invoices, receipts, and ledger entries. CSV is popular because it's simple and easy to validate.

What 'reconciliation-ready' means

• Consistent columns across months and accounts.
• Dates in one standard format.
• Amounts that import as numbers (not strings).
• Descriptions that are stable and searchable.

Use a stable schema

If you convert statements from multiple sources, normalize them to one schema early. Start with Date / Description / Amount and add Balance if you need it for checks.

A reliable way to standardize is using Statement Converter.

Create reliable matching keys

Matching is easiest when you can create a key like: Date + Amount + Normalized Description. In practice, you may want tolerances (rounding) and "ignore punctuation" rules.

Merging multiple statements

If you're working across multiple accounts or months, merge exports into one dataset only after they share the same schema and date normalization rules. Tools like Statement Merger help keep a consistent output shape.

For Excel-oriented cleanup, see cleaning statement data in Excel.